The Boys

This post is by special request. Yes, it's been a while since we posted. We are just busy with life.
The boys continue to grow and are developing their personalities day by day. Joaquin has some quick mood changes. He is either very happy or very mad. He can enjoy playing by himself or demand every minute of your attention. He has a strong set of lungs and is not afraid to use them. He is still the bully of the two. He simply over powers Jacob and has his way.
Jacob is more even tempered. Of course, he gets angry or sad when Joaquin pushes him around, but he quickly consoles himself and move on to something different. He will find enjoyment elsewhere.
Both boys are now completely on cow's milk. They are on a 3 bottle schedule and each bottle is over 7 ounces. They will not take milk in a sippy cup yet. They are also on a 3 meal diet and it is mixed between table food and baby food. Joaquin's favorite thing to eat are "puffs" and he can not get enough water. He LOVES water. Neither one of the boys likes juice. They both simply prefer water. Jacob's favorite thing to eat are cheerios. He will eat them with his meal or as a snack. He is also into a morning fruit smoothie. Latrice makes him a smoothie every morning for breakfast and he loves it. They both like fruit.
Jacob is a climber. He loves to climb on anything and everything. He can get on the couch and cross over furniture at will. He also loves to climb stairs. We had to put up the baby-gate on the stairs to prevent him from going to the second floor. Jacob also likes trucks. He is naturally drawn to them and likes to push them around the floor and the furniture.
Joaquin is really into reading. He loves his books. You can read the same story to him 10 times and he will want you to read to him again. He will also hardly let you get to the end. He will take the book and turn it to the first page and want you to start over. His favorite cartoon character is Moose A Moose on Nick Jr. He has timed the end of every show and knows when the Moose is coming on. He will stop what he is doing and grab a chair to watch the moose. He is also into DANCING. He loves music and has been dancing since he was 6 months old. He naturally bobs his head and moves his hips back and forth to music. No one taught him to do it. He just does it. If he likes the song he smiles and starts bobbing back and forth. It really intrigues me and makes me think that his future will be filled with music.
The HAIR. Both of our boys have long hair. Jacob's hair is just long and falls into his face. We are torn between cutting it and letting it grow like Joaquins. They both have such different size heads that the hair looks different on both of them. There is no doubt in our mind that we are going to let Joaquins hair grow and try to train it to fall to his side. He looks good with long hair and it fits him. We will also comb it back and give him a long ponytail like the dude from Los Lonely Boys. I hope we do not have to cut it when we send him to school.
Joaquins health has improved. He hasn't had a breathing treatment in a long time. His eczema has been kept a bay with some aggressive treatment from his allergist at Duke University Children's Hospital. He still has allergies and we still have to moderate his diet. We finally got used to asking for the ingredients in foods we order for them at a restaurant. No peanuts and no eggs.
Latrice's mom has finally settled in. The boys have really taken to her. She spoils them when she gets the chance and I have learned to pick my battles. It is a give and take relationship. These little ones have their ways with all of us and they know what they should or should not do.
Both boys still have to be put to bed with one of us. Someone has to lie with each boy every night until they fall asleep. The average time for Jacob is 20 minutes and it takes Joaquin 30 minutes to fall asleep. At night, we still have to tend to Jacob. He sleeps with a pacifier and when it falls out, he whines until someone gives it to him. Joaquin has started sleeping through the night. However, he has diaper blow outs every once in a while. He drinks so much water at dinner that his disposables will just blow up from the liquid. It makes such a mess and it makes him angry. If we could go back in time, we would try to re-do our sleep training. We failed at it and we pay the price for it every night. Latrice or I have to sleep with Jacob every night. His bed is the most uncomfortable bed in the house and we need to replace it. I am not looking forward to transitioning them to their toddler beds. Our goal is still to get them back in the same room. That day is fast approaching. Yikes!
Here is an update from our lives. We have to move again. Not from the city. From this house. The owners have decided to try to sell the house over the summer. They are asking $244,000. That is way out of our range and we have no desire to buy a home in North Carolina. So, we have to move. I applied for an on-base house. However, those will be torn down within the year and we will get moved into some new homes that they have not even started building yet. We hate moving. Yet, we moved in 2008, 2009, and will move in 2010 and again in 2011 before we leave in 2012. This is not fun. It is not fun at all with twin boys.
Latrice is thinking about going back to work for the extra income. She also needs to stay in the profession for her proficiency. I support her either way. I like that she is home with the boys, but I understand that she has a career to maintain and pursue. However, the new nursing license requirements are proving to be cumbersome and frustrating that I can almost be satisfied with her staying home until the boys go to school. North Carolina is VERY anti-military when it comes to making things easy for the service member. We have spent many many hours and money waiting in lines over and over to get our two vehicles registered and then sold. Once I get orders out of here, I will be very happy to leave.
That is all for now. I hope you all enjoy the update on out little ones. We are looking forward to some warmer weather so we can get out and enjoy the day outside.

~Javier
P.S. My nickname for Joaquin is "Joa" and I call Jacob "chiquito".